Sunday, May 02, 2004
SOX SWEPT IN ARLINGTON
There's nothing more annoying then watching the Sox offense flounder while Joe "John Madden" Morgan babbles nonsensically and Vin Scully says EVERYTHING with the same sequence of emphasis. Here was my favorite Morgan quote after a high knuckleball was absolutely killed into the upper deck but 20 feet foul:
"The low knuckleball is better to hit then the one that's down."
Morgan found a way to be both wrong and right. Joe then realised after a low knuckleball was hit for a homerun that maybe the fact that the batter was a lefty had something to do with crushing a low pitch.
Boston Red Sox 1
Texas Rangers 4
W: RA Dickey (4-1)
L: Tim Wakefield (2-1)
S: Francisco Cordero (10)
Wakefield pitched a hell of a game against a good offense and didn't deserve a loss. Dickey pitched amazing and his "thing" pitch (a mix between knuckle-curve and splitter) was interesting. Why did Francona take out Wakefield and put in Embree? Wake had only thrown 101 pitches and was more than rested. Honestly, Terry needs to be consistent with these guys. He leaves in Schilling who gives up a grand slam and takes Wakefield out so Embree can give up a homerun.
The Man of the Game is obviously RA Dickey. He went 8.2 and allowed only one run and that wasn't his fault. He only gave up 4 hits (all singles) and struck out 5.
The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Damon: 0.3 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB, 2 misplays in the outfield and a poor throw
Embree: 0.1 - Put the game out of reach by allowing that homerun
Mueller: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB, huge strikeout as the tying run in the 8th
Daubach: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB
Mirabelli: 0.2 - 0 for 2, 3 LOB
The Sox had a 4.5 game lead over the scum, but that has now dwindled to a mere game and a half. We need a good series in Cleveland. Schilling is going tommorrow and we need him to stop this losing streak.
The bad news continues for the Sox.
Mike Port has heart attack
OFFENDING OFFENSE
The Red Sox are exactly 4/27 through the season. Their offensive output is nowhere near what it was last year. Last year 961 runs. This year, we're on a pace for under 750. That's not exactly good. I know it's still early and more runs are scored per game as it gets warmer, but here is the comparison between what some Sox players did last season and what they're on pace to do:
Varitek:
Last year he hit .273, hit 25 homeruns, knocked in 85 runs, and scored 63 runs. He participated in a total of 123 runs (runs plus RBI minus HR). This year he is hitting for a higher average at .314, is on pace for 33 HRs, 81 RBI, 88 runs. 136 Runs Participated In (RPI). So Varitek is more than pulling his weight.
Millar:
Last year he hit .276, hit 25 HRs, knocked in 96 and scored 83 runs. He had 154 RPI. This year he's hitting .232, is on pace for 14 HRs, 47 RBI, 47 R and 80 RPI. That's half of his production last year.
Ortiz:
.288, 31 HRs, 101 RBI, 79 Runs, 149 RPI from 2003. This year he's on pace for .297, 34 HRs, 115 RBI, 88 Runs, 169 RPI. However, he played only 128 games last year. His RPI per game last year was 1.164. This year it is 1.086. His numbers are still impressive and very good, but his production per game is slightly lower. But I'm not complaining about a .297-34-115 season if that's what he winds up getting.
Walker/Reese:
Alot of people felt that our offense wouldn't be as potent with Reese replacing Walker. At the moment, Reese is replacing Nomar but Reese will primarily be Walker's replacement. Last year Walker batted .283, hit 13 HRs, knocked in 85 and scored 92 times. He had 164 RPI. This year Reese is batting .226, is on a pace to hit 0 HRs, knock in 54, score 54 and have 108 RPI. That's a big difference from Walker's production. Last year Walker had 1.389 RPI per game. This year Reese is on pace for 0.842 RPI per game. That's half a run per game. Does Reese prevent a run with his defense every other game? I don't think so.
Nomar/Bellhorn:
This will show us how much Nomar's absence has affected the offense. Last year Nomar batted .301, hit 28 HRs, knocked in 105 RBI, scored 120 Runs and had 197 RPI. That's ALOT. Bellhorn is on pace for a .221 average, 14 HRs, 68 RBI, 88 RBI and 142 RPI. 142 isn't bad. Last year Nomar's RPI per game was 1.256. Bellhorn's is exactly 1.000. so basically Bellhorn hasn't cost us that much offensive production. I can live for a quarter run less until Nomar gets back.
Mueller:
Last year Mueller batted .326, hit 19 HRs, had 85 RBI, 85 runs, and 151 RPI. This year he is on pace for a .253 average, 20 HRs, 88 RBI, 115 Runs, and 183 RPI. So he's producing runs even though his average is alot lower.
Ramirez:
Last year he batted .325, hit 37 HR, knocked in 104, scored 117 Runs and had 184 RPI. This year he is on a pace for .366 average, 34 HRs, 108 RBI, 81 Runs, and 155 RPI. Even though his average is a good deal higher, he isn't scoring as many runs. That's not really his fault though. He's getting the extra base hits.
Damon:
Last year he was .273 with 12 HRs, 67 RBI, 103 Runs, and 158 RPI. This year he is on pace for a .271 average with 0 HRs, 88 RBI, 81 runs and 169 RPI. So he is knocking in runs and isn't a problem.
So Nixon and Nomar being out has cost us some runs. Ortiz isn't contributing the same as he did last year on a daily basis. Millar is producing half of what he did last year. Reese is not producing what Walker did last year. This team needs to start scoring runs if we want to win the division and keep me from wasting my time calculating RPI/Game.
Post #174
There's nothing more annoying then watching the Sox offense flounder while Joe "John Madden" Morgan babbles nonsensically and Vin Scully says EVERYTHING with the same sequence of emphasis. Here was my favorite Morgan quote after a high knuckleball was absolutely killed into the upper deck but 20 feet foul:
"The low knuckleball is better to hit then the one that's down."
Morgan found a way to be both wrong and right. Joe then realised after a low knuckleball was hit for a homerun that maybe the fact that the batter was a lefty had something to do with crushing a low pitch.
Boston Red Sox 1
Texas Rangers 4
W: RA Dickey (4-1)
L: Tim Wakefield (2-1)
S: Francisco Cordero (10)
Wakefield pitched a hell of a game against a good offense and didn't deserve a loss. Dickey pitched amazing and his "thing" pitch (a mix between knuckle-curve and splitter) was interesting. Why did Francona take out Wakefield and put in Embree? Wake had only thrown 101 pitches and was more than rested. Honestly, Terry needs to be consistent with these guys. He leaves in Schilling who gives up a grand slam and takes Wakefield out so Embree can give up a homerun.
The Man of the Game is obviously RA Dickey. He went 8.2 and allowed only one run and that wasn't his fault. He only gave up 4 hits (all singles) and struck out 5.
The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Damon: 0.3 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB, 2 misplays in the outfield and a poor throw
Embree: 0.1 - Put the game out of reach by allowing that homerun
Mueller: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB, huge strikeout as the tying run in the 8th
Daubach: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB
Mirabelli: 0.2 - 0 for 2, 3 LOB
The Sox had a 4.5 game lead over the scum, but that has now dwindled to a mere game and a half. We need a good series in Cleveland. Schilling is going tommorrow and we need him to stop this losing streak.
The bad news continues for the Sox.
Mike Port has heart attack
OFFENDING OFFENSE
The Red Sox are exactly 4/27 through the season. Their offensive output is nowhere near what it was last year. Last year 961 runs. This year, we're on a pace for under 750. That's not exactly good. I know it's still early and more runs are scored per game as it gets warmer, but here is the comparison between what some Sox players did last season and what they're on pace to do:
Varitek:
Last year he hit .273, hit 25 homeruns, knocked in 85 runs, and scored 63 runs. He participated in a total of 123 runs (runs plus RBI minus HR). This year he is hitting for a higher average at .314, is on pace for 33 HRs, 81 RBI, 88 runs. 136 Runs Participated In (RPI). So Varitek is more than pulling his weight.
Millar:
Last year he hit .276, hit 25 HRs, knocked in 96 and scored 83 runs. He had 154 RPI. This year he's hitting .232, is on pace for 14 HRs, 47 RBI, 47 R and 80 RPI. That's half of his production last year.
Ortiz:
.288, 31 HRs, 101 RBI, 79 Runs, 149 RPI from 2003. This year he's on pace for .297, 34 HRs, 115 RBI, 88 Runs, 169 RPI. However, he played only 128 games last year. His RPI per game last year was 1.164. This year it is 1.086. His numbers are still impressive and very good, but his production per game is slightly lower. But I'm not complaining about a .297-34-115 season if that's what he winds up getting.
Walker/Reese:
Alot of people felt that our offense wouldn't be as potent with Reese replacing Walker. At the moment, Reese is replacing Nomar but Reese will primarily be Walker's replacement. Last year Walker batted .283, hit 13 HRs, knocked in 85 and scored 92 times. He had 164 RPI. This year Reese is batting .226, is on a pace to hit 0 HRs, knock in 54, score 54 and have 108 RPI. That's a big difference from Walker's production. Last year Walker had 1.389 RPI per game. This year Reese is on pace for 0.842 RPI per game. That's half a run per game. Does Reese prevent a run with his defense every other game? I don't think so.
Nomar/Bellhorn:
This will show us how much Nomar's absence has affected the offense. Last year Nomar batted .301, hit 28 HRs, knocked in 105 RBI, scored 120 Runs and had 197 RPI. That's ALOT. Bellhorn is on pace for a .221 average, 14 HRs, 68 RBI, 88 RBI and 142 RPI. 142 isn't bad. Last year Nomar's RPI per game was 1.256. Bellhorn's is exactly 1.000. so basically Bellhorn hasn't cost us that much offensive production. I can live for a quarter run less until Nomar gets back.
Mueller:
Last year Mueller batted .326, hit 19 HRs, had 85 RBI, 85 runs, and 151 RPI. This year he is on pace for a .253 average, 20 HRs, 88 RBI, 115 Runs, and 183 RPI. So he's producing runs even though his average is alot lower.
Ramirez:
Last year he batted .325, hit 37 HR, knocked in 104, scored 117 Runs and had 184 RPI. This year he is on a pace for .366 average, 34 HRs, 108 RBI, 81 Runs, and 155 RPI. Even though his average is a good deal higher, he isn't scoring as many runs. That's not really his fault though. He's getting the extra base hits.
Damon:
Last year he was .273 with 12 HRs, 67 RBI, 103 Runs, and 158 RPI. This year he is on pace for a .271 average with 0 HRs, 88 RBI, 81 runs and 169 RPI. So he is knocking in runs and isn't a problem.
So Nixon and Nomar being out has cost us some runs. Ortiz isn't contributing the same as he did last year on a daily basis. Millar is producing half of what he did last year. Reese is not producing what Walker did last year. This team needs to start scoring runs if we want to win the division and keep me from wasting my time calculating RPI/Game.
Post #174
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